Sujavna 3:28

1155 hrs/Sunday 21 July 2013

I am going to be brief in this post. The questions that comes to my mind today is: Do countries need to continue with an elaborate and costly machine called “defence forces” to protect their economic and cultural assets and citizens? If protection against aggressive enemy countries and/or terrorism is the objective, what innovations in international peacekeeping and dispute resolution-mechanisms can obviate the need for countries to spend on “defence”?

Any views out there? Wishing you a great week ahead and a wonderful weekend.

Sujavna 3:27

1150 hrs/Sunday 21 July 2013

From embedded war-time correspondents to citizen journalists and the use of social media, mainstream journalism has innovated from time to time to become more effective and efficient. However, to me, it seems that the core challenges for journalism and journalists, continue to remain – to define newsworthiness, to identify newsworthy stories and to follow up on these stories till they reach a logical closure, and all these managed efficiently!

So then, what can journalism learn from some other areas, in terms of innovative practices? A few random thoughts, in this direction:

·         Cloud Reporting (akin to cloud computing) – where a news-story can be logged, and can be followed up by individuals (journalists and others) or by any media corporation to either extend scope of the original investigation, add new dimensions to the original news story, provide additional investigative value-adds to the original story, et al. Cloud Reporting can be offered as a SaaS equivalent, with adequate safeguards to recognise and track the Rights of various parties contributing to each story.

·         Cues from the Energy Sector – just as the generation, transmission and distribution of power or Gas is split and handled by different corporate entities, what can be the positive outcomes (I can see a few negative ones!) from separating the journalism sector into (a) Story Capture Sector - frontline journalism, where specialist corporations invest in and employ journalists and other resources on the ground the capture stories, (b) an Intermediary Sector that purchases these news stories from the Story Capture Sector and may overlay an editorial perspective, as may be dictated by its stakeholder/shareholder policies (these can be the normal mainstream companies as they exist today), and (c) Local Story Supply Companies that enter into contractual agreements with a range of Intermediary companies to distribute the stories to a targeted local consumer base at a commission. Of course, a regulatory body will oversee that natural justice and market-driven economies of scale of operations exist in the ecosystem.

Do you have some ideas or views? Signing off here....

Sujavna 3:26

1045 hrs/Sunday 07 July 2013

Last week I was fortunate to have been introduced to a concept that offers insights into how ideas and information actually can be made to work. This is the concept of memes, which are indivisible units of culture, first conceptualised by  Richard Dawkins a scientist who said that a meme is a piece of culture that replicated through communicating, and perhaps evolved into other memes in the process.

I think that this is an important concept for the innovation processes in corporate and social organisations, and can play an important role to enhance the effectiveness of both the process and the end-product of the innovations themselves. And so I intend to understand more about memes in different contexts of the innovative process, in the coming weeks.

Any memes on memes itself? Signing off......

Sujavna 3:25

1110 hrs/Sunday 30 June 2013

Last Thursday, I was fortunate to acquaint myself of how Indian IT and ITES companies are enthusiastically embracing the commercial opportunities that BIG DATA ANALYTICS offers; the occasion was an interesting conference that was organised by Nasscom in Hyderabad – and yet, I came away with a sense of disappointment that there seems to be no innovative approaches by either the government or the industry body or, for that matter, even the individual companies, for influencing the global expansion of this business segment and for ensuring that Indian consumers of Big Data and Indian Data Scientists will continue to remain the global fulcrum for this sector. The approaches, unfortunately and insipidly, continue to revolve around just increasing the share of providing services to global Bid Data spenders!

While on the subject of Big Data and Analytics, a few interesting thoughts crosses my mind – what non-corporate uses of Big Data can be opportunities for Data Scientists in a country such as India? I list a few below (even though I do admit that I am not even sure if these fall in the gamut of Big Data Analytics!), and encourage you to list others. Will large Indian ITES providers with business interests in Big Data be ready to invest in these areas, perhaps as PPP projects?

·         Census of Natural Resources (Natural Resource Accounting and Management)

·         General Elections  - Party  and Part Nominee Campaigns and Performance Analytics vis-a-vis Local, Regional and National Issues and Promises and Realtime and Near- Realtime socio-political trends analysis.

·         Crime Pattern Recognition and Crime Management (including crimes that are not registered).

·         Realtime Impact Studies on Government Spends for large Subsidies and Small Subsidies.

Hope you are having a great weekend. Signing off here......

Sujavna 3:24

1225 hrs/Sunday 23 June 2013

The week that went by, was indeed a calamitous one for several hundred thousands (perhaps even millions) of residents and travellers who had to face nature’s fury in the sub-himalayan stretches of India. The fatalities are estimated to have crossed a thousand!

I am not sure what sort of insurance claims are possible in these circumstances, and if possible, to what extent these can ameliorate the losses (both economic and psychological). But what I am keen to know is how insurance sector – insurance companies and the insurance regulator - has been innovating (or indeed if any have already innovated!) in their business product offerings or in their customer service processes, or indeed, in their marketing and promotional processes, or even in their CSR initiatives, so as to reinforce messages that they exist for their customers, at times of dire need.

It is also a matter of importance to know if insurance companies have been, as part of their CSR initiatives, contributing any part of their net profit to the government’s disaster relief funds, or indeed if they have been actively investing in raising the capacities of their customers and the general public to manage prevention of large-scale disasters? For example, do travel insurance companies work with local governments, hotels, restaurants, tour operators and public/private transport companies to provide regular advisories on how to correctly and realistically evaluate the risks to travel and what risk-mitigation options are available and what help is available to adopt these options?

In short, should insurance companies be collaborating more widely, to innovate in risk-prevention and risk mitigation projects and technologies, which raises their own brand equity and profitability (an apparent contradiction, but not necessarily true!).

Any views?

Sujavna 3:23

1255 hrs/Sunday 16 June 2013

The week that went by saw intense debates and passionate arguments for and against the need for governments to spy for the security of their citizens and for protection of national economic interests.

What interests me, is not the debates themselves (I see nothing new in the crux of the arguments!), but the absence of any acknowledgement, that while technological innovations have taken the dimensions of spying to unprecedented levels, no appropriate innovations are being attempted in the international systems of justice to balance their impact on human rights or national economic sovereign rights. And if, indeed, there have been such innovative initiatives, very little media attention has been focused on them! Perhaps the custodians of our rights (the national and international courts of justice) owe us all some answers as to what they have been proactively doing and what innovations in approaches they see as the way forward.

Wishing you a great week ahead......

Sujavna 3:22

1215 hrs/Sunday 09 June 2013

Do innovations have a place for steering an organisation to remould itself into a shape that it was in about a decade back, but with a greater chance to add value to its stakeholders even as it retains its core value-systems?

The question is one that one needs to attempt answering, as there are increasing instances of corporate entities, political parties and sports administrations that seem to have been caught into a vortex of conflicting demands of profit-maximisation, power-centralisation vis-a-vis equitable and sustainable growth, governance and the continuance of relevance to core stakeholder communities. Just look at the challenges being faced by cricket administration in India, the debates on Eurozone or the internal contradictions that India’s principal opposition party BJP is facing, and you will agree that “innovating backwards” to move forward is something worthy of exploration!

Any views on the potency of such an approach, and if any examples exist that one can learn from?

Signing off here....

Sujavna 3:21

1145 hrs/Sunday 02 June 2013

Why should we Leverage it for civil society’s aspirations towards good governance?

Will it Augment an organisation’s capacities for innovation and growth?

Should it always depend on Technology’s ubiquitous presence?

Does it need an Empirical substantiation to prove its worthiness?

How does it Relate to logical deductions for its successful application?

Do we know for sure that it Always succeeds?

Where can we Learn more about how to become its addicts?

This morning, these are some of the questions that keep running in my mind about LATERAL THINKING. And as I contemplate on these, I realize that even as there seem to be easy answers, there are also no straightforward ones; and each question can lead us into a quagmire of debatable answers. Have you ever wondered why human beings have still not mastered this seemingly simple concept to resolve the challenges that they face in their daily lives?

Signing off here...

Sujavna 3:20

0645 hrs/Sunday 26May 2013

Terrorism, sadly, continues to disrupt the lives of citizens, who are mostly innocent victims who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. All the preventive security measures that governments provide for, seem to be limited in their effectiveness.

Is there now a real case for a total rethink on the approach to counter-terrorism that calls for an innovative combination of path-breaking regulations that seek to control the manufacture and use of explosives and biological agents, multi-national corps for shared intelligence and frontline personnel, and a massive incentivisation for economic development of all backward regions in the world?

Can we think of innovations to current strategies for countering terrorism world over?

Signing off here......

Sujavna 3:19

0630 hrs/Sunday 19 May 2013

What innovations has the global music industry seen in the recent past? Songwriters and music composers continue to be as creative as they have always been, but has the business of music publishing and distribution and rights protection and monetisation, seen much of innovation?

I kept mulling on these questions for most of the last three days as I participated in a music convention in Brighton (The Great Escape), and I was disappointed. Beyond some excellent business models from Spotify and Youtube (which were not really innovations, but just extensions of the power of social media and digital distribution networks), and some good initiatives in DRM, there is no tangible evidence that the music industry has come up with innovations in any aspect of creation, promotion, publishing, distribution or consumption and monetisation aspects.

The demise of global names such as EMI and HMV, and the continuing struggle of independent artistes to make a modest living out of their creativity, should have naturally created conditions ripe for innovations, but this has apparently not yet happened. So I will continue to watch this space.

Signing off....

Sujavna 3:18

1230 hrs/Sunday 12 May 2013

On Friday last, as I was waiting (along with 100 other invited guests) for the top bureaucrat of my city to grace the Annual Day celebrations of a Chamber of Commerce (who incidentally came almost an hour later than his scheduled time), I started thinking of the numbers of game-changing and innovative public administration projects, initiatives and policy reforms that the top bureaucrats of Indian states should have completed in the 60-plus odd years that Indians began governing themselves.

Think: Assuming that a top bureaucrat stays for 5 years on his job, we have on an average around 12 individuals in each Indian state (during the last 60 years), who were recognised for their excellence in public administration capabilities (that is why they could reach the top job, isn’t it?). Focussing just on 20 of the current 29 states, means we have a group of 240 individuals, whose career excellence in public administration (be it in revenue administration, in law and order administration, in health and nutrition administration, in legal and constitutional understanding and interpretation to support government projects and policies, be it in education or land reforms) was recognised and rewarded with selection to the top Post.

That means we should have a catchment of 240 case studies that illustrate how lateral thinking, innovations in processes and systems, and application of the right sets of data analytics to effect the right interventions for the benefit of the largest segment of the affected citizens, could be achieved.

Where are these case studies? Who is chronicling them? How are the lessons learnt being communicated to other public administrators (including aspiring ones), and to their political masters? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there is a well-documented compilation of a list of current and past projects of innovative public administration, along with the names of key officials who were directly involved?  

And how cynical can one be, if one were to conclude that the 240 top bureaucrats reached their positions not because of their excellence in public administration but because they knew how to play the system and were in the right place at the right time seeming to do the right things for their political masters? Perhaps justified, if one were to look at the preponderance of archaic systems, laws and civil procedures that plague all of our states and the Centre and shackle them from offering good governance transparently!

Any views or suggestions? Signing off here.....

Sujavna 3:17

1230 hrs/Sunday 05 May 2013

Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to see the last few scenes of a movie titled A Shortcut to Happiness on a TV channel. And why do I think my surprise was pleasant? Because the movie was addressing a highly philosophical theme (of the role -or its absence- of God in the scheme of things that relate to happiness, satisfaction, contentment, greed, avarice, needs, wants) in an innovative way that has a writer and a lawyer-agent-manager (who also plays Satan’s handyperson) who enters into a devilish contract with him that leaves him between (sic) “the devil and the deep sea”!

What caught my attention is the fact that the filmmaker has sought to be innovative in the use of everyday characters and their strengths and weaknesses, ambitions and desires as well as their fears and hopes and suggests to viewers to sum up for themselves on where they stand on these philosophical demigods and “equilibberate” (liberate their own concepts of equilibrium from those of societies!) on value-systems.

Now this movie has set me thinking – has there been any treatise on what innovative approaches have filmmakers used to convey their stories and thoughts to the viewers of their films?

Do you know of any interesting anecdotes in this area?

Signing off here.....

Sujavna 3:15

1215 hrs/Sunday 28 April 2013

How does one make a transition from an active professional career to an active post-retirement life? And when should one start plans for such a transition so that it is both smooth and rewarding to both self and society? Does this situation in one’s life offer opportunities for lateral thinking and innovation?

Can Universities offer academic and research programmes exclusively meant for senior citizens that can excite them to pursue questions that have not been satisfactorily understood by them during their entire working career or philosophies that need more rigorous understanding and reporting?

Any views on such subjects?

Signing off here, with apologies for a delayed posting once again.

Sujavna 3:16

1230 hrs/Sunday 28 April 2013

Is it really true that most organisations are, by nature, resistant to innovating in-house, and do not invest in institutionalised innovation, unless forced by the competitive environment? It is my humble submission, that this is not really true!

Innovation within organisations, probably occurs incrementally, and that these do not necessarily catch the attention of top managers or external researchers. Cost-reductions, technical troubleshooting, managing customer grievances and risk management and risk transfer activities by various levels of staff within organisations involve lateral thinking and learning curves that demand flexibility of approach; what probably is lacking is a documentation of such experiences for others to benefit and top-management to recognise.

Do you agree?

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Sujavna 3:14

1350 hrs/Sunday 14 April 2013

As a recent Economist report suggests, energy plantations (and wood as a renewable energy resource) have been extensively used by many European power companies as a green add-on option with the assumption that their net carbon impact is lower that pure fossil-fuel. But questions are raised on the long-term implications of such an approach to renewable.

The moot point is why Life Cycle Environmental Costing (Impact) o the TCA approach which has been well-researched and applied by green-economists, is not used by policy makers and governments and businesses to decide on the most-appropriate solutions for energy planning?

Where is the catch? Why is green accounting not becoming a standard accounting procedure world over?

Any views?

Sujavna 3:13

1345 hrs/Sunday 14 April 2013

One of the eternal challenges or dilemmas that politicians across the world face seems to be the doubts about the extent and modes of communication that they need to adopt to reach out to their constituents. And these get compounded, if politician also want to incorporate humour in their communications! Politics has been practiced for centuries (millennia, I would say!) and yet there seems to be no best-practice guideline that has worked without fail.

Can social-scientists and political theorists laterally think up some fail-proof processes that can help this beleaguered class?

Any views? Signing off for now....

Sujavna 3:12

1330 hrs/Sunday 14 April 2013

Apologies right in the beginning for missing out on posting my blogs during the last two Sundays. Travel commitments prevented me from sending you my thoughts. Hope the following three posts will make up.

How does one look at the broader philosophical issues that the Arab Spring may have raised for the worlds’ citizens? Should the movement be restricted to a region of the earth where there has been some move to restructure the concentration of wealth and political power in the hands of a minority? Isn’t it true that wealth and political power and affluence continues to be concentrated with a minority of citizens world over, including those of the so-called western democracies? If true, shouldn’t the Arab Spring expand into a World Spring in terms of a good debate amongst the rulers and the ruled world over? And how does the world organise such debates across different socio-politico-cultures?

Some food for thought, say what?

Sujavna 3:11

1100am/Sunday 24March 2013

As can be anticipated, the recent Indian Supreme Court verdict on the review petitions in the 1993 Mumbai terrorism case has evoked a mixed response, and has clearly revealed the double-standards that the so-called intellectual middle-class Indian practices (I refer to the calls for a sympathetic review of the Bollywood actor convicted in this case).

But there is one aspect of the 20-year legal episode that calls us all to introspect and work upon innovatively – why should there be a system of blanket “appeals-processes”, and “review-petitions” that convicts and their lawyers with affordable means abuse and waste the time of the valuable higher courts and executive administration?

Could we not innovate to ensure that judgements, in the first instance, are right and, all judgements will be reviewed through an automatic peer process in 3 months time – the peers could be a body of retired judges, who would serve the nation better rather than becoming chairmen of government-appointed committees ; and if the review process reveals a case for retrial or review by an upper court, then such an advice will be provided to the convict and his/her lawyer, who will then move the higher court. Also shouldn’t the Supreme Court involve itself only in cases of a gross-misrepresentation of constitutional rights, jurisdictions,  and privileges for citizens and organisations rather than involving itself in lower matters such as review of quantum of punishment?

What’s your take on this? Signing off for now....

Sujavna 3:10

0700am/Sunday 17 March 2013

Diplomacy is a utility that has been in existence for (I guess) as long as human beings have lived in social groups. Diplomacy, as practised today, could be assessed on, whether it contributes to peace and prosperity amongst nations, or in fact does more to subvert the same! And is there a need for diplomats to undergo some minimum professional training, undertake something like a (Hippocrates) oath for “standards of care” and have a “best-practice” guide book that could be referred to when in doubt??

Why am I concerned? Because of various instances of diplomatic gaffes that keep surfacing from time to time. Take the case of the Italian ambassador’s involvement in extending his good office and his government’s assurance to the Indian Supreme Court on the conduct of two Italian citizens’ conduct, and then reneging on the same. Was this necessary for furthering Italy’s national interest in Asia or for promoting bilateral geopolitical and economic interests with India which could help ease the recession back home?

I think this is a typical case of overreaching by confusing the role and duties of a diplomat. I also think that the Indian side has also contributed to the gaffe by not understanding where it had to draw the line in terms of extending all sorts of privileges in the name of diplomacy and human rights to under-trials. Again, a classic case of confusion amongst those that were involved in the case!

So is there any innovation that can help improve the situation? As I had prefaced, perhaps a mandatory training by a UN agency for all diplomats on benchmarked processes and “best practice” guidelines may be a starting point.

Signing off.....have a great week ahead.

Sujavna 3:9

01000am/Sunday 10 March 2013

Can the debate on capping bankers’ (and financial services sector’s) compensation packages look at fresh ideas that have the possibility of breaking the deadlock of retrenched positions of both sides in Europe and the UK? How about the possibility of not imposing caps but adding conditions that the performance-linked bonuses would need to be equally shared with (a) the customers, (b) the employer (who will hold the income in an escrow account with the regulator)?

On another matter, small retail individual customers in countries such as India continue to face challenges in fast and effective communications with big businesses on matters such as their deposits, the defeciencies in quality of goods and services that they had purchased, nominations for benefits, change of address and personal details. These challenges arise due to language, the confusion on who to address their communications to, the change in names of companies and the addresses of their offices..... In this context, would it be a good idea to commence a service that can provide a reliable communication service on behalf of such clients. This service can ensure that any such communications is fast, reliable and assures that both the sender and receiver benefit. Small nominal charges can be charged from individuals on an advance basis, with volumes and probabilities taking care of the profitability of such services.

Trust you are having a great weekend.

Sujavna 3:8

0620am/Sunday 3 March 2013

And I apologise for the delay in publishing this post which should have been done at 0620 am / Sunday 24 February 2013 / Mumbai.

What if one can go back in time and relive/rework things with the benefit of hindsight? What if this is possible in a limited context of “undoing things” that were not done correctly or appropriately in the first instance? Morally, ethically and philosophically, this can be a great human virtue; and not always impractical. All that is required is to acknowledge that something needs to be changed and then to go ahead and effect that change. The challenge, though, is the often-clouded reasoning on cost-versus-benefits of the change needed.

So, I have started to play an interesting game. This involves marking out some headline-grabbing news that was reported in the last 7 days and fantasize on how the same will be reported if the principal actors undid or acted differently (apologetically or otherwise) what they had done in the first place. My first game involves the Indian Finance Minister and his 2013 annual budget speech. Mr Chidambaram appends a Part C to his speech, which elaborated a green accounting  aspect of each of his major announcements in his Part A and Part B announcements. Another game involves Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Narayanamoorthy and Mr K V Kamat. They have each joined India’s leading political parties (Congress, BJP and Aam Aadmi – not necessarily in that order) and are leading the battle for the 2014 general elections.

Can you imagine the probable outcomes? Interesting mind-games, these!

Signing off...

Sujavna 3:7

0620 pm / Sunday 17 February 2013 / Mumbai

Ponzi schemes at one extreme , complex but legal financial products from investment and wealth management specialist organisations at the other extreme, and a host of mazes that facilitate money movements (both legal and illegal) in between...... are there lessons in creativity and innovation that financial markets and business-government intermediation offer for those of us who want to master the art of lateral thinking, creativity and innovation?

Well, this is one thought that has been on my mind over the past few days as more and more revelations are being published about how a leading Anglo-Italian defence equipment manufacturer has worked its way to successfully bid as a supplier to Indian government and defence agencies; even as other media reports continued to present the story of how a leading Indian business house continues to be recalcitrant about its obligations on returning illegal money that it collected from unwary depositors and used it to float illegal market-schemes.

Business schools and students of business management may best benefit by candidly debating these stories and distilling what was ethically and legally wrong versus what tools were intellectually and academically effective and efficient!

Hope you are having a great weekend. Signing off here.

Sujavna 3:6

11:55 am / Sunday 10 February 2013 / Mumbai

Why are business managers and public administrators not actively seeking to learn from the way masterchefs and jazz musicians innovatively create and deliver “top-of-the-chart” products for their customers and that too by excelling in getting their teams to work in tandem? How do these “creatives” pull off such excellence? One would assume that the idiosyncratic nature of their core strengths would prevent any normal teamwork!

Which strengthens the case that there is a stereotyping – that “creatives” are not usually adept at organisational excellence and “organised businesses” have organisational excellence ingrained in their DNAs - that has worked to the detriment of the latter. Perhaps it is time that organisations, especially businesses and governments, innovate in terms of getting more “creatives” to join their core leadership teams.

What do you say?

Sujavna 3:5

05:00pm / Saturday 02 February 2013 / Mumbai

Surprise! I post this a day in advance, since I am travelling tomorrow and am keen not to miss out.

How does one cater to the increasing demand for court time in an environment where litigation is the preferred approach to settling disputes, and where the infrastructure for civil and criminal justice systems is crumbling due to paucity of human and investigative resources? To me, the situation is one that opens immense possibilities for innovations – from virtual arbitration portals to outsourcing of investigations and case file preparations to systemic changes in the way contracts are drafted and registered, and much more.

Another chance to use thinkertoys? Let me checkout.

Signing off.....

Sujavna 3:4

11:00 am / Sunday 27 January 2013 / Mumbai

Should centenaries always call for celebrations? If yes, should these celebrations always gloss over the shortcomings, under-achievements, lapses and failures and focus only on the successes; should they always encourage and wish more centuries to follow? And what innovative ways can one think of when one wants to highlight the achievement of a century?

Well these are some thoughts that have occupied me since morning as Sujavna completes 100 posts over the last 103 weeks. Am I enthused to create even better submissions on this blog and how else can I enthuse and encourage you to react to these submissions?

Last week, I mentioned that I will use some thinkertoy techniques to relook at the challenge of redesigning city marathons. I am glad to say that the work is well underway and is currently at a stage where linear “scamper” techniques are being used. So questions that I ask include: Can marathons be Substituted? Can some marathon-related activities be Combined? What can be Adapted? What aspects of marathon organisations be Modified? Can marathons be Put somewhere else?  What aspects of marathons can be Erased without materially affecting the outcomes? Can there be a Reversal of activities that still enables results but in a more effective way? I also propose to augment these with some non-linear “free-dance”, “lotus-blossom” and “tug-of-war” techniques and conclude on my suggestions soon. So keep watching out for this space in my future posts.

Signing off here.....

Sujavna 3:3

11:00 am / Sunday 20 January 2013 / Mumbai

The London Marathon...The Mumbai Marathon...... well most metropolitan cities across the world now boast of an annual marathon; and claim that many charities raise a lot of funds at these marathons, (though it beats me why anyone can’t just directly donate to the charity of their choice right through the year instead of waiting for these annual events!) – yet I dare to challenge the organisers and the local governments and other supporters of these marathons that these events do create a lot of difficulties for ordinary citizens on the day of the marathon , they do create a net environmental damage (net carbon positive) and many times they do reinforce the divides between the haves and the have-nots.

But I do not just want to stop with my challenge on these premises. I want to also explore as to what innovations can probably negate my charges and ensure that the lofty ideals of getting citizens to undertake a marathon can still be achieved. How does one design a “round-the-year” “individually-logged” and “objectively-certified” series of marathon initiatives that do not call for massive city-wide planning and disturbance, but can meet (and perhaps surpass) all of the goals that the marathon organisers aim to achieve?

It is my intention to use some “thinkertoy” techniques on this problem during the next few days and report back on what alternatives are possible in my next post.

Wishing you a great weekend. Signing off .....

Sujavna 3:2

11:00 am / Sunday 13 January 2013 / Mumbai

Samarium Hexaboride, Acoustic Coolers..... well, there is an infinite number of ideas , materials, products and systems that continues to offer solutions to humanity. And an infinite more numbers of permutations and combinations between these ideas, materials, products and systems that need working upon!

An interesting debate that rightfully should have found more resonance in India also, is the one that is taking place in the USA on gun control (to ban or not to ban the right to possess firearms). Interestingly, the debate has continued to revolve around established positions and theories on the links between violent crimes and guns. I think that the debate has not ventured into any aspect of innovatively addressing delinking the possession of guns from deterrence against violent crimes, for instance in biometric-enabled movement of the gun from its normal resting place and automatic tracking by GPS of its whereabouts, including an SMS to the closest gun-registry control room as well as its owner.

In India, the week ahead will see the harvest festival of Sankaranti / Pongal / Bhogi being celebrated. The country itself has seen the contribution of agriculture to GDP decline, yet agriculture and agro-economics continue to influence the economy in many myriad and sometimes, inscrutable ways. So it is in our interest, that we need to see more innovations in agro-economics and agriculture, and more debate on the efficacy of any innovative practices and systems.

Trust you are having a wonderful weekend and best wishes for the week ahead.

Sujavna 3:1

11:00 am / Sunday 06 January 2013 / Mumbai

And as I wish you all a great year ahead, I also resolve for myself that my blog will continue to offer a weekly capture of my own thoughts on how lateral thinking and innovations can help us lead better lives.

So even as we continue to grapple with various miserable aspects such as the impact of an as-yet unresolved fiscal cliff in the US economy, the economic woes of the Euro zone, the gender crimes in India, the unresolved debates on balancing performances of various countries on social and economic development indices, we also continue to be eternally hopeful of resolving these inherent contradictions in our lives, because of the myriad fountains of innovations that progress from ideas to words to deeds, and which keep springing from various nooks and corners of our society.

And hence the journey of this blog continues. The intention (as it has been so far), will be to keep spewing out ideas as much as commenting on trends in lateral thinking and innovations as they keep being reported on mainstream media.

Signing off for now....